Copyright 2000 The Omaha World-Herald Company
Omaha
World-Herald
May 3, 2000, Wednesday SUNRISE EDITION
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 17;
LENGTH: 1235 words
HEADLINE:
3rd District Candidates Take Stand The U.S. House hopefuls outline their
positions on abortion, budgeting and other issues
BYLINE: DAVID HENDEE
SOURCE:
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
BODY:
The
candidates for Nebraska's open 3rd District House seat laid out their positions
on the projected budget surplus and more than 20 other issues in a questionnaire
sponsored jointly by Project Vote Smart and The World-Herald. John
Gale, a North Platte attorney and former state Republican Party chairman, said
his highest priorities would be to reduce the federal debt, ensure the long-term
survival of Medicare, eliminate the so-called death tax, reduce the
capital-gains tax and allow self-employed workers to deduct the full costs of
health insurance premiums. Tom Osborne, the former Nebraska football
coach, said his top priority is saving Social Security. Kathy Wilmot,
a member of the State Board of Education from Beaver City, gave cutting taxes as
a priority, but not the highest. She favors replacing the Social Security system
with private retirement accounts. Rollie Reynolds, a Grand Island
real estate agent and lone Democrat in the race, listed Medicare and Social
Security as high priorities and federal debt reduction as a low
priority. Reynolds said the government should "set up a program to
fully fund Social Security over time - to come from the budget
surplus." Wilmot differed sharply with the other candidates on four
international trade issues. She said she did not support the North
American Free Trade Agreement, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade,
continued U.S. membership in the World Trade Organization or
China becoming a member of the WTO. Gale, Osborne
and Reynolds said they supported each of the four global trade
issues. Wilmot was the only candidate to say the United States
should withdraw from the United Nations. Gale and Reynolds said the United
States should pay its debt to the United Nations. The purpose of the
survey was to provide voters with candidates' views on issues that policy-makers
face in Washington. Project Vote Smart is a nonpartisan organization established
in 1992. The candidates' complete responses can be found as a link to
this article at The World-Herald's Web site, omaha.com. Here's how
the candidates addressed some of the other issues in the
survey: Abortion Reynolds was the only candidate who said
abortions should always be legally available. The Republicans
differed in degree on abortion, but they agreed on two points. They would ban
the dilation and extraction procedure, also called "partial birth" abortion, and
they support prohibiting public funding of abortions and public funding of
organizations that advocate or perform abortions. "I believe in the
sanctity of life," Osborne said. "Any time you get people deciding when life is
terminated and when it's viable, I think that's getting on a slippery
slope." Gun Issues Gale and Wilmot supported allowing
citizens to carry concealed guns. They also supported increased penalties for
the possession of any illegal guns. Osborne said he supported
strengthening the enforcement of existing federal restrictions on the purchase
and possession of guns. Immigration All four candidates
supported establishing English as the official national
language. Osborne said he favored increased state autonomy in
handling immigration issues. Gale and Reynolds supported separating the
Immigration and Naturalization Service into two bureaus: one for naturalization
procedures and one for administering the Border
Patrol. Spending Gale and Reynolds said they favor greatly
increasing spending for agriculture. Osborne said agriculture should see a
slight increase in funding. Wilmot said agriculture spending should be slightly
decreased. Gale said funding should be increased for public research
to find new value-added uses for major crops. He said there should be stricter
enforcement of antitrust laws regarding U.S. agribusiness. Osborne
said profitability needs to be returned to farming. "It is very
important that we eliminate embargoes on food and medical products," he said.
"Using food as a bargaining chip in international relations has not worked and
is very detrimental to agriculture." Rollie Reynolds
(Democrat) AbortionSays they should always be legally available.
Supports funds for family planning programs as way to decrease number.
Priorities for Budget SurplusMedicare and Social Security are high priorities.
Federal debt reduction is low priority. Gun Issues (none listed)
ImmigrationFavors establishing English as official national language. Supports
separating INS into bureaus for naturalization and border patrol.
Budget and Spending IssuesWould greatly increase spending for agriculture;
slightly increase education, law enforcement and medical research; slightly
decrease welfare.John Gale (Republican)AbortionShould be legal when life of
mother is endangered. Supports waiting periods and notification requirements
decided by states; buffer zones for clinic demonstrators. Opposes partial birth
procedure. Supports funds for family planning programs.Priorities for Budget
SurplusHighest priority to federal debt reduction. Medicare, eliminate death
tax, reduce capital-gains tax, allow self-employed to deduct full health
insurance premium costs. Gun Issues Supports maintaining
or strengthening enforcement of existing federal laws. Allow citizens to carry
concealed weapons. Require makers to provide child-safety locks. Increase
penalties for possession of illegal weapons. Raise minimum age to own handguns
from 18 to 21. ImmigrationIncrease eligibility of legal immigrants for social
programs. Provide extra federal aid to states with higher number of immigrants.
Grant U.S. citizenship to children born in USA to legal immigrants.
Establish English as official national language. Budget and Spending IssuesWould
greatly increase agriculture, defense, law enforcement, national parks spending;
slightly decrease arts, education, NASA and welfare.Tom Osborne
(Republican) AbortionShould be legal when life of mother is
endangered. Supports waiting periods and notification requirements decided by
states. Opposes partial-birth procedure; public funding of abortions, advocates,
clinics. Priorities for Budget SurplusHighest priority to Social Security; high
priority to Medicare and tax cuts, medium priority to debt reduction.Gun
Issues Supports maintaining and strengthening enforcement of existing
federal restrictions on buying and possessing guns. ImmigrationFavors
establishing English as official national language; increased state autonomy in
handling immigration issues. Budget and Spending IssuesWould greatly
increase defense spending for agriculture; slightly increase agricultural,
medical research, national parks, scientific research; slightly decrease arts,
environmental, international aid.Kathy Wilmot
(Republican) Abortion Opposes partial-birth procedure;
opposes public funding of abortions, advocates, clinics. Priorities for Budget
SurplusHigh priority to tax cuts.Gun Issues Supports allowing
citizens to carry concealed guns; increased penalties for possession of illegal
guns. ImmigrationSupports establishing English as the
official national language. Budget and
Spending IssuesWould greatly increase defense spending; slightly
increase law enforcement; slightly decrease agricultural and welfare;
greatly decrease arts, education and environment and international aid.
LOAD-DATE: May 16, 2000 
